1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image-recording method and an image-recording system, and more particularly to an image-recording method and an image-recording system in which a light and heat sensitive recording material is exposed to record a latent image thereon and then is heated to develop the latent image.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional optical recording system such as silver halide photography, a subject is photographed using a photographic film such as a negative film or a positive film, and the photographic film is developed. A recording material such as photographic printing paper or plain paper is optically exposed, on the basis of image information recorded on the developed photographic film, to form a latent image, and the recording material is processed to render the latent image visible and obtain a print. In the following description, photographic film means a film which has been used to photograph a subject and developed to render visible a negative image or a positive image. Thus, in order to obtain a print from the photographic film, image information recorded on the photographic film has to be rendered visible on a recording material. In recent years, image information has been made visible using recording materials which do not require developing and fixing materials such as treating fluid or toner. Such recording materials include, for example, a light and heat sensitive recording material, onto which image information is optically exposed to obtain a latent image, which latent image is made visible and fixed by heat-development.
When such a light and heat sensitive recording material is used, a process which renders visible the obtained latent image by optically exposing image information by heating and fixes the image is required. A latent image-recording process and a heat-development process are difficult to carry out simultaneously, and therefore have to be carried out separately. As a result, image-recording systems for recording an image onto a light and heat sensitive recording material have been provided with respective processing sections disposed sequentially along a conveying path of the light and heat sensitive recording material, such that at least the latent image-recording and the heat-development are carried out separately.
However, when these sections for respective processes are provided sequentially along the conveying path of the light and heat sensitive recording material, the system becomes large. Therefore, the conveying path of the light and heat sensitive recording material has been made to meander, and the sections for respective processes have been stacked to make the system more compact.
However, even when the conveying path of the light and heat sensitive recording material has been made to meander and the sections for respective processes stacked, the system as a whole has necessarily become large, since the sections have merely been stacked.
In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an image-recording method and an image-recording system which can each record an image onto a light and heat sensitive recording material with a compact system having a simple structure.
In order to accomplish the above-described object, an image-recording method of the present invention is an image-recording method for exposing a light and heat sensitive recording material to record a latent image thereon and then heating to develop the latent image, the method including the steps of: recording the latent image by exposing the light and heat sensitive recording material with light while conveying the light and heat sensitive recording material in one direction; and developing the latent image by heating while conveying the light and heat sensitive recording material in an opposite direction which is opposite to the one direction.
In the image-recording method of the present invention, the light and heat sensitive recording material is exposed to light to record the latent image. The light and heat sensitive recording material includes a light and heat sensitive recording layer. By exposing with light and heating the light and heat sensitive recording layer, an exposed portion thereof forms color, or an unexposed portion thereof forms color. The light and heat sensitive recording layer may be formed of a single layer of one color to form a monochromatic image, or may be formed of a plurality of layers to form a color image. The latent image is developed by heating. After development, the developed image can be fixed by irradiating light onto the image. When the latent image is recorded, the light and heat sensitive recording material is exposed to light while being conveyed in the one direction. When the latent image is developed, the light and heat sensitive recording material is heated while being conveyed in the direction opposite to the conveying direction of the time of latent image-recording. That is, the light and heat sensitive recording material is exposed to light to record the latent image and heated to develop the latent image while being conveyed forward and backward on a conveying path: the recording is carried out in a forward direction, and the development is carried out in a backward direction. Thus, since the image is recorded only by conveying the light and heat sensitive recording material forward and backward on the conveying path, sections for respective processes can be overlapped and the system can be made more compact. Since the light and heat sensitive recording material is recorded with the latent image in the forward direction and heat-developed in the backward direction, conveyance for latent image-recording and heat-development can be dissociated. Therefore, a conveying speed for each process can be stabilized without being affected by the other process.
The above-described image-recording method can be accomplished by the following image-recording system. Specifically, an image-recording system for recording an image, the system including: an optical recording section which exposes a light and heat sensitive recording material with light and records a latent image; a heat-developing section which develops the latent image by heating; a conveying mechanism which conveys the light and heat sensitive recording material; and a conveyance-control device which controls the conveying mechanism such that the light and heat sensitive recording material is conveyed in one direction along a predetermined conveying path when the latent image is being recorded at the optical recording section, and the light and heat sensitive recording material is conveyed in an opposite direction, which is opposite to the one direction, along the conveying path when the latent image is being developed at the heat-developing section.
The image-recording system of the present invention records the latent image by exposing the light and heat sensitive recording material with light at the optical recording section. The light and heat sensitive recording material includes the light and heat sensitive recording layer explained above. The latent image is developed by being heated at the heat-developing section. Further, an optical fixing device for fixing the developed image by irradiating light may be provided. The conveyance of the light and heat sensitive recording material is controlled by the conveyance-controlling device at least when recording the latent image and during heat-development. That is, the conveyance-controlling device controls such that the light and heat sensitive recording material is conveyed in the one direction on the predetermined conveying path when the latent image is recorded at the optical recording section, and the light and heat sensitive recording material is conveyed in the direction opposite to the one direction on the conveying path when the latent image is developed at the heat-developing section. Since the image can be recorded just by conveying the light and heat sensitive recording material forward and backward on the conveying path, sections for respective processes can be overlapped and the system can be made more compact.
The conveyance-controlling device can control such that the light and heat sensitive recording material is conveyed to a predetermined waiting site after it has been conveyed in the one direction on the conveying path, and is then conveyed from the waiting site in the direction opposite to the one direction.
The light and heat sensitive recording material is conveyed in the one direction on the conveying path when the latent image is being recorded thereon, and then is conveyed to the waiting site. The light and heat sensitive recording material is conveyed from the waiting site in the direction opposite to that at the time of the latent image-recording. Therefore, between the latent image-recording process and the heat-development process, the light and heat sensitive recording material can be held at the waiting site, and transition to the next process can be halted. Therefore, the processes can be carried out efficiently even if there is a difference between the processing times or there is an interruption between the steps.
The image-recording system is further provided with an accommodating section for accommodating light and heat sensitive recording materials of a predetermined size and a feeding device for feeding the light and heat sensitive recording materials of the predetermined size from the accommodating section. The conveyance-controlling device can cause a light and heat sensitive recording material fed by the feeding device to be conveyed.
Sheets of paper which have been cut to a predetermined size may be used as the light and heat sensitive recording material. Flexibility of the system is improved by accommodating the light and heat sensitive recording materials of the predetermined size in the accommodating section, and having the light and heat sensitive recording materials fed from the accommodating section by the feeding device and conveyed.
The image-recording system is further provided with a paper supply device for accommodating a long light and heat sensitive recording material, and a taking-out device for taking out the light and heat sensitive recording material from this paper supply device. The conveyance-controlling device can cause the light and heat sensitive recording material taken out by the taking-out device to be conveyed.
A long roll of paper may be used as the light and heat sensitive recording material. Use of the long roll of paper is enabled by accommodating this long light and heat sensitive recording material in the paper supply device, and having the light and heat sensitive recording material taken out from the paper supply device by the taking-out device and conveyed, thereby improving flexibility.
In this case, the image-recording system may be further provided with a cutting device for cutting the light and heat sensitive recording material taken out by the taking-out device. By suitably cutting the long roll of paper with the cutting device, the light and heat sensitive recording material can be obtained at a desired size.
The cutting device can cut the light and heat sensitive recording material after the light and heat sensitive recording material is taken out and before a latent image is recorded thereon, or after the recording and before the development, or after the development.
When the light and heat sensitive recording material is cut at a point between the taking-out and the latent image-recording, the long light and heat sensitive recording material can be treated from an early stage in the same way as the sheets of paper cut to the predetermined size in advance. If the light and heat sensitive recording material is cut at a point between the taking-out thereof and the latent image-recording thereon, the size of an area at which the latent image is actually to be recorded can be taken into account, and if the light and heat sensitive recording material is cut at a point after the development, the size of an image that has actually been developed can be taken into account.
As described above, in accordance with the present invention, a latent image is recorded while a light and heat sensitive recording material is conveyed in one direction, and then the latent image is developed while the light and heat sensitive recording material is conveyed in an opposite direction. Therefore, recording and heat-development of the latent image on the light and heat sensitive recording material can be carried out by conveying the light and heat sensitive recording material forward and backward on the same conveying path. This allows sections for respective processes to be overlapped, thereby making the system more compact.